Poker for gas producers



Feb. 25, 1930. I R. D A'AE POKER FOR GAS PRODUCERS Filed Dec. 7, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Filed 1925 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 w .A.-:Q..

H .o 02. D 3v U INVENTOR 64441 Feb. 25; 1930; R. DAAE POKER FOR GAS PRODUCERS Filed Dec. '7, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR 25, 1930- .R. DAAE R 1,748,467

POKER FOR GAS PRODUCERS Filed Dec- 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Patented I Feb. I V I 1 munm was, Youlvesrowu, dI-I IO "POKER FQR' GAs' rnonu'c'nns The present invention relates broadly {to I pokersz'and operating. mechanism there-for'e,

and moreparticularly to a pokerlfor use in gas 'producers'and to imp'rovedmean's for operating the p lz'er to obtain different operatingresults at difierent times;

, Asdis'closed in my Pa entua nll aeoojbf,

February 13,1923,and"asclaimedinrnyPatv ent No. 1,'521,231 of DeCember SO, 1924, 1"

have heretofore proposed the provision of-a poker for gas producers withmeansfor md chanicallyraising the poker and. thereafter perniit'ting'it to descend under the influence; of its own weight; "Also I have heretofore..-

prop'o'sed,:as disclosed therein, to provide in a single poker-operating rn'echanisni, {operatingmeans of s'uchnatur'e that if desired'the poker could have ;'d-ifie' rent characteristic I break through theuppersurface thereof. 7 g In the accompanying drawings, there are shown for, purposes of illustrationonly cer- A t'ain preferred embodiments o'fthe present invention, it -being understood that-these drawings donot 'defi'ne the limits of In'yiir vention, as changes in the construction disproducer *may'befmade" withoutdeparting from the spirit of myinvention or the scope, of my broader claims. I l In the drawings: 1 7

closed therein and in the -operation' of the Figure'lis a top plan View partly broken away and partly in sectionillustrating one form ofgas'producer' equipped with a poker operating mechanism r constructed in accord} ancewith the present .invention FigureQ is a vertical sectional iew the," '1; line IIIIL0f Figure 1, looking in the di 'rectionof the arrows; I

Figure 3"is a vertical sectional view on '1 the line III.'III' of Figure 1, lookingiin the direction-ofthe,arrows -,l

In the ar'tnto-wh'ich thisinvelltio ation of the producer.

Figure 4 is a detail transversesectional view on an enlargedxscale through a por-i 'tion of the poker, this vi'ew illustrating a part of the pokereoperating mechanism; c t

Figure 5 is a vertical sectionar'viewon the line;VV of Figure 4:, looking in. the direc I ,tion-of the arrows; and

f-Figure 6 is a detail horizontal sectional View illustratingja'modified form ofpoker'e operating niechanism j f '60 v relates, itjis' desirable at dilferent'. times to provide means efiective. solely'for the purpose of leveling. the fuelbed withinthe body'of the gas producer and serving to distribute uniformly over :such fuel :bed' the coal supplied thereto; At'othertimes, itf'is necessary, ii'1 order-tor secure properkcombust-ion Within the producer and permit the-release of the gases,'toj actually"poke"=or break through thefupper ilayerjto the fuel bed 1 This ."poking action p fservesftoiefiectively fill-up any cracks'whicli' '1 have formed-.incthe fueljbed during-the oper In "the illustrated 'embodilnent of s n" 5-;

vention, there is provided agasprodujcerQ, which may be ofjfan'y "usual.w con structio-nQ TlllSfPIYOdllQGl' carries} at its upper portion '5 a casting-'3, which is preferably substantially U'shaped in E'OI'OSS section, to provide a chan-i 89;

nel 4', for; the, reception oi water to be used for sealing thecover '5 ofthe' proclucer.j1I-his 1 cover is provided with-a downwardlypro. jecting {flange-,6, extending into the'phannel' 4 and belowj'the level of the water therein, v

as required} p t u The cover is preferably forn drwith a Ina--- chined outer portion 7, adapted to cooperate wherebv the interior of theproduceris sea1ed,.j

with antifriction rollers 8', carried on suitabl 1- i spindles projecting outwardly from thelp'ro:

'ducer'body. Als'oiforjholding the covering 7 its proper operative position, there may. beii providedasecond seriesolfrollers 9, having a their axes" substantially no mal-to *the' axes-:

of the rollers 8.

panying" drawings is preferably of the char- ,acter in which therefis 'a'relativerotational v v movement betweenthe bo'dy" o"fitheproducer f Q The gas producer illustrated in the accor n d tionary. For producing this rotation of the and the cover. In the particular form illustrated, this relative movement is obtained by rotating the cover while maintaining the body stationary, but it will be apparent that the same results might be obtained by rotating the body and maintaining the cover stacover, there is indicated at one side of the producer a motor 10, having a gear 11, on its armature shaft, meshing with a gear 12 on an upper shaft 18, journaled in a housing 14, operatively supported in the desired relation to the cover 5. This shaft, in turn, carries a gear 15, meshing with a gear 15 on a second shaft 16 extending throughthe housing. Mounted on the-shaft 16 within the housing is a worm 17, in operative engagement with a worm wheel 18, suitably secured to a vertically extending shaft19. Intermediate its ends,the shaft 19'carries a pinion 20, which meshes with teeth 21, formed on the periplr eral portion of the cover 5. w

It will be apparent that with the construc tion described, there is provided a unit driving mechanism which may be bodily removed or placed inposition as desired. I

Extending transversely of the cover is a shaft 22, having at one end abevel gear'2-3',

extending downwardly through an opening in the cover of the producer and meshing with an annulargear 24,'suitably secured to one edge of the casting 3. I/Vith this construction, relative rotation between the body of,

the producer and the; cover is effective for L transmitting rotation to the shaft22. This rotation is, in turn, effective through a gear. 24,which meshes with "a similar gear25, for

transmitting rotationto the shaft 26. This 7 shaft carries at its opposite end alloosely mounted gear 27 meshing at all times with a gear 28, on one end of a'short shaft 29. At its opposite end the shaft 29 is intergeared with a similar shaft 30, whereby the shafts V 29 and 30 will be simultaneously rotatedv in opposite directions at the same speed. 7, g

The shafts 29 and 30 are preferably journaled in'a suitable casting 31, projecting upwardly from the cover of the producer and having extending vertically therethrough an faces 34, adapted tobe engaged by frictional driving means 35. This driving means, as clearly indicated in Figure 5, may conveniently comprise similar drumscarried by the intermediate portions of the shafts 29 and 30,

respectively, and having diametrically op posed portions36 cut away, whereby duringthe "rotation of the drums, the high portions 37 thereof will first come into contact with a the sides of the poker shank, and thereafter,

the high pointswill passout, of engagement and permit the poker to drop under the infiuence of gravity.

Due to the construction of the driving mechanism, this drop of the poker does not influence the rotation of any of the driving mechanism, and it will therefore be apparent that the movement of the poker in the downward direction is nearly a true gravity drop. Thecontinued rotation of the shafts 29 and 80 in the proper direction, as determined by the relative movement of the cover and body of the producer, will again bring the friction surfaces into operative lifting engagement with the shank of the poker whereby it will again be raised. This operation be con tinued as long as desired for intermittently raising and lowering the poker, to tamp or poke the fuel bed. i

For guiding the poker accurately during the actuation thereof, there may be provided webs 38, projecting from diametrically opposite sides of the shank and adapted to engage guideways 40 in the casting 31. This prevents any possibility of twisting of. the pokerduring the operation ofthe producer.

In order to accurately control the'frictional engagement between the operating mecha-z nism and the poker, each of'the shafts 29 and 30 may be carried at its opposite ends inblocks 41, slidably mounted in suitable ways in the wvard each other by compression springs 42,

cooperating at' their outer ends with cross heads 48, and at their inner ends with the blocks 41. By varying the position of the cross heads43, the compression of the springs may be correspondingly varied and' the frictional lifting engagement changed as desired.

vAt its lower end, the shank 33 carries a poker 44, which may be substantially of the construction set forth in m Patent No. 1,521,231, dated December 30th, 1924. In this construction, the. fuel-engaging face} of the poker is provided with fuel-distributing channels 45, as clearly shown in Figure 2, and f" the body of the poker increased in'width from the inner end to the outerend thereof, as indicated in Figure 1. In this manner, a substantially uniform 'tamping action on the en-' tire area of the fu-el bed is effected, as the poker'acts generally in a radial direction and. the increase in width from endto end thereof takes care of the increasein the circumference from the inner to the outer portion of the fuel bedi At times, it may be desired to havethe body 44- of the poker simply rest .upon'the fuel bed for leveling the same and distributing the fuel assupplied to the producer. In order that this operation may take place, the gear 27 has provided on one of its faces'a portion 46ofa clutch adapt-ed to cooperate with a similarly shaped portion 46, which is splined to the shaft 26 and adapted to'rotatevat all times therewith. The clutch portion 46 is movable inwardly into engagement, or outwardly to destroy such engagement, with the k gear 27', by means of an operating lever 47. This lever-may be constructed to cooperate with a bracket 48, having openmgs 49 therein, .adapted to successively register with the 7 opening 50 in the lever as itis moved to its 7 "different positions, whereby a locking pin may be passedthrough the registering openingsland hold the lever in either desired position. With the clutch disengaged, it will be' understood that the poker rests on the fuel 7 bed for performing the operation set forth.

It is desirable, whether the poker is being operated to tamp the fuel bed or to distribute the fuel, to provide means for determlning the character of its action. For this purpose, the poker shank at its upper end, as clearly shown in Figure 3, carries a bracket 51, from which a pivotally mounted rod 52 extends upwardly into a housing 53., This housing is operatively supported, as shown in Figure 1, between spaced channels 54. At an intermediate portion, thesechannels are pivotally 'lngs adapted tobe' brought into registration to receive a locking pin 59, whereby the chanmounted on a bracket 55, extending upwardly erating withcurved arms 58. Both the head 57' and the arms 58 are provided with'opennels 54-may be positively held in any desired position. As clearly shown in Figure 3, 'the' bracket 48 for the clutch lever'47 may; be formed as an integral part of' the curved marms58. 1 Y

" Mounted within the housmg 53 in position to surround'the rod 52 is. a comparatively l fuel bedwill be determined by the. setting of I the spring. This may be varied to'increase or heavywcompressio'n spring 60, thedegree of compression of which may be adjustably Va- 1 ried by the nut 61, and follower 62. With this constructiom-with the counterbalance channels 54'secured in any position, the amount of penetration of the poker intothebody of the decrease the extent of the'penetrating movement of the poker. On the other hand, when it is desired to have the poker act as a d stributing means, thecounterbalance arms 54 will be freed by withdrawing the pin 59, whereby the entire body of the poker is substantially counterbalanced and it serves to distribute'and level 'thefuel bed, without exerting anysubstantialpacking action thereupon 7 the frictional lifting engagement between the drums and the'shank of the poker,the drums and the faces of the poker shank are provided with cooperating grooves, serrations, or the whereby portions of said surface intermitlike 63. 7 I v a 11 Figure 6 of the drawings, I haveindi-ro cated a slightly modified form of my invention, inwhich for the purpose of increasing mechanism for'feedin fuel to the pro-' ducerbody maybe of any esired construction, having, preferably I a positively "operated fuel-feeding means, such as a drum 64, provided with pockets 65 and delivered through a suitable opening 't'o'a distributing b'ell- 66.

The specific manner of feeding, however,con I stitutes no part of'the present invention.

The advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of a poker-operating mechanism by means of which the poker may be lifted at willand permitted to drop to penetrate the body of the fuel bed an amount which may be adj ustably regulated.

I Still further advantages of the invention arise from the construction and mounting of the poker, whereby it may be effectively used as a -distributing means for the'supplied fuel, 1

without exerting any detrimental packing of I I; claim:

-1. In agasjproducer of the character de- I scribed, a fuel bed-engaging element,'counter' balancing vmeans cooperating therewith for partially carrying the weight of-said element,

means for moving the element relatively to and independently of said counterbalancing means, and a shock absorbing connection'between said element and said counterbalancingf means, substantially as described.

2. Ina gas producer of' the character described, a cover adapted to carry a fuel en gaging member, a fuel bed engaging'member on. said cover and extending"therethrough counterbalancing, means supported solely on said cover for-said fuel engaging member," spring shock absorbing connectioribetw'een the fuel engaging, member and said means," and means for holding said counterbalancing positions, submeans in different adjusted stantially as described, The combination of a poker having fuel engaging and distributing means,- means for raising said poker. intermittentlylindepend 'ently of the fuel level with which it cooperates, counterbalancingmeans for said poker,

connecting means between' said counterbalancing means andpoker for permitting the poker to distribute fuel while operating independently of said counterbalancing means,

and resilient means for limiting the descent of said-poker, substantially'as described.

4. In a gas producer, mechanism compris-. ving a poker havlng a vertically extending 12o shank, means rotatable about an axis at substantially. right angles to the axis of said a shank, and intermittently movable'into and out of frictionalengagement' with the shank for raising the poker and permitting it to ,fall'respectively, and. operating mechanism for. said means, substantially as described,

5. In azgas'producer, mechanism comprising a poker, means having an irregular sur- 7 face adapted to be rotated adjacent said poker f "13o ,myhand.

tently frictionally engage the poker to raise the same, and to be rotated out of engagement thereof to permitthe poker to fall by gravity,

and operating mechanism for said means,

substantially as described.

6 In a gas producer, poker-operating mechanism, comprising a poker, means having an irregular surface adapted to be rotated adjacentsaid poker whereby portions of said surface intermittently frictionally engage the poker to raise the same, and out of engagement therewith to permit the poker to fall by gravity, and operating mechanism for said means, said means being resiliently urged toward said poker, substantially as described.

7. In a gas producer, mechanism comprising a poker, means adapted to intermittently move into direct lateral engagement with said poker to raise the same, and then move entirely out of engagement with the poker to permit the same to fall by gravity, operating mechanism for said means, and means for rendering said operating mechanism inoperative, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set REINHARDT DAAE. 

